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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a 1939 American lighthearted political satire film directed by Frank Capra, starring Jean Arthur and James Stewart, and featuring Claude Rains and Edward Arnold. The film is about a naive, newly appointed United States senator who fights against government corruption, and was written by Sidney Buchman, based on Lewis R. Foster's unpublished story "The Gentleman from Montana".[4] It was loosely based on the life of Montana US Senator Burton K. Wheeler, who underwent a similar experience when he was investigating the Warren Harding administration.[5][6]

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFrank Capra
Screenplay by
Based on"The Gentleman from Montana"
(unpub. story)[1]
by Lewis R. Foster[2]
Produced byFrank Capra
(uncredited)
Starring
Narrated byColin James Mackey
(uncredited)
CinematographyJoseph Walker
Edited by
Music byDimitri Tiomkin
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release dates
  • October 17, 1939 (1939-10-17) (Washington, DC, premiere)
Running time
125–126 or 130 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.5 million
Box office$9 million[3]
The film's trailer

The film was controversial in the US when it was first released, with attacks from many politicians claiming that it brought Washington into disrepute, but it was very successful at both the domestic and international box offices, and it made Stewart a major star.[7]

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor, winning Best Original Story.[8] Considered to be one of the greatest films of all time, the film was selected by the Library of Congress as one of the first 25 films for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1989, for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[9][10]

Plot

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In the late 1930s, the governor of an unnamed western state, Hubert "Happy" Hopper, appoints Jefferson Smith to replace deceased U.S. Senator Sam Foley. Smith is head of the Boy Rangers, and his appointment is supported by the governor's children. Corrupt political boss Jim Taylor sought the appointment of his handpicked stooge, while popular committees wanted another candidate. Smith, however, was chosen because his naivety about politics was expected to make him easy to manipulate.

Smith is taken under the wing of the publicly esteemed, but secretly crooked, Senator Joseph Paine, who was Smith's late father's friend. Smith develops an immediate attraction to the senator's daughter, Susan. At Senator Paine's home, Smith has a conversation with Susan, fidgeting and bumbling, entranced by the young socialite. Smith's naïve and honest nature allows the unforgiving Washington press to take advantage of him, quickly tarnishing Smith's reputation with ridiculous front-page pictures and headlines branding him a bumpkin.

To keep Smith busy, Paine suggests he propose a bill. With the help of his secretary, Clarissa Saunders, who was the aide to Smith's predecessor and had been around Washington and politics for years, Smith comes up with a bill to authorize a federal government loan to buy some land in his home state for a national boys' camp, to be paid back by youngsters across America. Donations pour in immediately. However, the proposed campsite is already part of a dam-building graft scheme included in an appropriations bill framed by the Taylor political machine and supported by Senator Paine.

Unwilling to crucify the worshipful Smith so that their graft plan will go through, Paine tells Taylor he wants out, but Taylor reminds him that Paine is in power primarily through Taylor's influence. Paine then advises Smith to keep silent about the matter. The following day, when Smith speaks out about the bill at Senate, the machine in his state — through Paine — accuses Smith of trying to profit from his bill by producing fraudulent evidence that Smith already owns the land in question. Smith is too shocked and angry by Paine's betrayal to defend himself and runs away.

Saunders, who looked down on Smith at first, but has come to believe in him, talks him into launching a filibuster to postpone the appropriations bill and prove his innocence on the Senate floor just before the vote to expel him. In his last chance to prove his innocence, he talks non-stop for about 25 hours, reaffirming the American ideals of freedom and disclosing the dam scheme's true motives. Yet none of the senators are convinced.

The constituents try to rally around him, but the entrenched opposition is too powerful, and all attempts are crushed. Owing to the influence of Taylor's machine, newspapers and radio stations in Smith's home state, on Taylor's orders, refuse to report what Smith has to say and even distort the facts against the senator. The Boy Rangers' effort to spread the news in support of Smith results in vicious attacks on the children by Taylor's gangsters.

Although all hope seems lost, the senators begin to pay attention as Smith approaches utter exhaustion. Paine has one last card up his sleeve: he brings in bins of letters and telegrams from Smith's home state, purportedly from average people demanding his expulsion. Nearly broken by the news, Smith finds a small ray of hope in a friendly smile from the President of the Senate. Smith vows to press on until people believe him but immediately collapses in a faint. Overcome with the pangs of remorse, Paine leaves the Senate chamber and attempts to commit suicide by gunshot but is stopped by onlooking senators. He then bursts back into the Senate chamber, shouting a confession to the whole scheme; the reformed Paine further insists that he must be expelled from the Senate and affirms Smith's innocence to Clarissa's delight. The President of the Senate observes the ensuing chaos with amusement.

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    Sen. Jefferson Smith and his aid Clarissa Saunders in a taxi with the Capitol dome lit up at night in the rear window
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    Smith pursues his filibuster in the Senate chamber before senators deliberately ignoring him
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    Paine and Smith in the Senate, with Smith holding letters and telegrams demanding his resignation in the final scene

Cast

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Cast notes:

Following Capra's usual habits, working with people he knew well, he brought together again three of the leading actors from his previous film production for Columbia Pictures, You Can't Take It with You of 1938, with Arthur, Stewart, and Arnold in lead roles again.

Among the unbilled veteran character actors seen in the film are Guy Kibbee's brother, Milton Kibbee, who has a bit as a reporter; Lafe McKee; and Matt McHugh of the McHugh acting family. Also in the film in minor roles are Dub Taylor and Jack Carson, later well-known actors. Silent film character player Hank Mann played a photographer.

Production

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Columbia Pictures originally purchased Lewis R. Foster's unpublished story, variously called "The Gentleman from Montana" and "The Gentleman from Wyoming", as a vehicle for Ralph Bellamy, but once Frank Capra came on board as director – after Rouben Mamoulian had expressed interest – the film was to be a sequel to his Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, called Mr. Deeds Goes to Washington, with Gary Cooper reprising his role as Longfellow Deeds.[N 1] Because Cooper was unavailable, Capra then "saw it immediately as a vehicle for Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur",[11] and Stewart was borrowed from MGM.[4] Capra said of Stewart: "I knew he would make a hell of a Mr. Smith ... He looked like the country kid, the idealist. It was very close to him."[12]

Although a youth group is featured in the story, the Boy Scouts of America refused to allow their name to be used in the film and instead the fanciful "Boy Rangers" was used.[4]

In January 1938, both Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Paramount Pictures submitted Foster's story to the censors at the Hays Office, likely indicating that both studios had an interest in the project before Columbia purchased it. Joseph Breen, the head of that office, warned the studios: "[W]e would urge most earnestly that you take serious counsel before embarking on the production of any motion picture based on this story. It looks to us like one that might well be loaded with dynamite, both for the motion picture industry, and for the country at large." Breen specifically objected to "the generally unflattering portrayal of our system of Government, which might well lead to such a picture being considered, both here, and more particularly abroad, as a covert attack on the Democratic [sic?] form of government", and warned that the film should make clear that "the Senate is made up of a group of fine, upstanding citizens, who labor long and tirelessly for the best interests of the nation."

Later, after the screenplay had been written and submitted, Breen reversed course, saying of the film, "It is a grand yarn that will do a great deal of good for all those who see it and, in my judgment, it is particularly fortunate that this kind of story is to be made at this time. Out of all Senator Jeff's difficulties there has been evolved the importance of a democracy and there is splendidly emphasized the rich and glorious heritage which is ours and which comes when you have a government 'of the people, by the people, and for the people.'"[4]

The film was in production from April 3, 1939, to July 7 of that year.[13] Some location shooting took place in Washington, D.C., at Washington Union Station, the United States Capitol, and other locations for background use.[14]

In the studio, to ensure authenticity, an elaborate set was created, consisting of Senate committee rooms, cloak rooms, and hotel suites, as well as specific Washington, D.C., monuments, all based on a trip Capra and his crew made to the capital. Even the Press Club of Washington was reproduced in minute detail,[4][15] but the major effort went into a faithful reproduction of the Senate Chamber on the Columbia lot. James D. Preston, a former superintendent of the Senate gallery, acted as technical director for the Senate set, as well as advising on political protocol. The production also utilized the "New York street set" on the Warner Bros. lot, using 1,000 extras when that scene was shot.[4]

The ending of the film was apparently changed at some point, as the original program describes Stewart and Arthur returning to Smith's hometown, where they are met by a big parade, with the implication that they are married and starting a family.[4] In addition, the Taylor political machine is shown being crushed; Smith, riding a motorcycle, visits Senator Paine and forgives him; and a visit to Smith's mother is included. Some of this footage can be seen in the film's trailer.[16]

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    Stewart and Capra (second from right)
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    Stewart and Arthur
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    Stewart, Arthur and Capra

Impact

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The film premiered in Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., on October 17, 1939, sponsored by the National Press Club, an event to which 4,000 guests were invited, including 45 senators.[12] Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was attacked by the Washington press, and politicians in the U.S. Congress, as anti-American and pro-Communist/Socialist for its portrayal of corruption in the American government.[17] Frederic William Wile of The Washington Star wrote that the film showed "the democratic system and our vaunted free press in exactly the colors Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin like to paint them."[18] While Capra claims in his autobiography that some senators walked out of the premiere, contemporary press accounts are unclear about whether this occurred or not, or whether senators yelled back at the screen during the film.[19]

However, it is known that Alben W. Barkley, a Democrat and the Senate Majority Leader, called the film "silly and stupid", and said it "makes the Senate look like a bunch of crooks".[20] He also remarked that the film was "a grotesque distortion" of the Senate, "as grotesque as anything ever seen! Imagine the Vice President of the United States winking at a pretty girl in the gallery in order to encourage a filibuster!" Barkley thought the film "showed the Senate as the biggest aggregation of nincompoops on record!"[20]

Pete Harrison, a respected journalist and publisher of the motion picture trade journal Harrison's Reports, suggested that the Senate pass a bill allowing theater owners to refuse to show films that "were not in the best interest of our country". That did not happen, but one of the ways that some senators attempted to retaliate for the damage they felt the film had done to the reputation of their institution was by pushing the passage of the Neely Anti-Block Booking Bill, which eventually led to the breakup of the studio-owned theater chains in the late 1940s. Columbia responded by distributing a program which put forward the film's patriotism and support of democracy and publicized the film's many positive reviews.[21]

Other objections were also voiced. Joseph P. Kennedy, the American Ambassador to Great Britain, wrote to Capra and Columbia head Harry Cohn to say that he feared the film would damage "America's prestige in Europe", and because of this urged that it be withdrawn from European release. Capra and Cohn responded, citing the film's review, which mollified Kennedy to the extent that he never followed up, although he privately still had doubts about the film.[22]

The film was banned in Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy, and in Franco's Spain.[citation needed] In the Soviet Union, the film was released to cinemas in December 1950 as The Senator.[citation needed] According to Capra, the film was also dubbed in certain European countries to alter the message of the film so it conformed with official ideology.[citation needed]

When a ban on American films was imposed in German occupied France in 1942, some theaters chose to show Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as the last movie before the ban went into effect. One theater owner in Paris reportedly screened the film nonstop for 30 days after the ban was announced.[23]

The critical response to the film was more measured than the reaction by politicians, domestic and foreign. When it premiered at the Radio City Music Hall, the critic for The New York Times, for instance, Frank S. Nugent, wrote that "[Capra] is operating, of course, under the protection of that unwritten clause in the Bill of Rights entitling every voting citizen to at least one free swing at the Senate. Mr. Capra's swing is from the floor and in the best of humor; if it fails to rock the august body to its heels – from laughter as much as from injured dignity – it won't be his fault but the Senate's, and we should really begin to worry about the upper house."[24]

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington has been called one of the quintessential whistleblower films in American history. Dr. James Murtagh and Dr. Jeffrey Wigand cited this film as a seminal event in U.S. history at the first "Whistleblower Week in Washington" (May 13–19, 2007).[25][26] Others have highlighted the film's vigorous support for free speech as a check of tyranny, and have pointed to the parallels between the strong-armed tactics of the Taylor Machine depicted in the film and those which had recently been deployed by Mayor Frank Hague against protestors in Jersey City, New Jersey.[27]

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington has often been listed as among Capra's best, but it has been noted that it "marked a turning point in Capra's vision of the world, from nervous optimism to a darker, more pessimistic tone. Beginning with American Madness (1932), such Capra films as Lady for a Day (1933), It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), and You Can't Take It With You (1938) had trumpeted their belief in the decency of the common man. In Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, however, the decent common man is surrounded by a venal, petty and thuggish group of crooks. Everyone in the film – except for Jefferson Smith and his tiny cadre of believers – is either in the pay of the political machine run by Edward Arnold's James Taylor or complicit in Taylor's corruption through their silence, and they all sit by as innocent people, including children, are brutalized and intimidated, rights are violated, and the government is brought to a halt."[28] Nevertheless, Smith's filibuster and the tacit encouragement of the Senate President are both emblematic of the director's belief in the difference that one individual can make. This theme would be expanded further in Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and other films.

Box office

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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was a box office success upon its release, earning theatrical rentals of $3.5 million in the United States alone.[29] It became the second-highest-grossing film of 1939 and was also the third highest-grossing film of the 1930s decade, only behind Gone with the Wind and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Awards and honors

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Academy Awards

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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, but won only one.[30]

Award Result Winner
Outstanding Production Nominated Columbia Pictures (Frank Capra)
Winner was David O. Selznick – Gone with the Wind
Best Director Nominated Frank Capra
Winner was Victor Fleming – Gone with the Wind
Best Actor Nominated James Stewart
Winner was Robert Donat – Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Best Writing, Screenplay Nominated Sidney Buchman
Winner was Sidney Howard – Gone with the Wind
Best Writing, Original Story Won Lewis R. Foster
Best Supporting Actor Nominated Claude Rains
Harry Carey
Winner was Thomas Mitchell – Stagecoach
Best Art Direction Nominated Lionel Banks
Winner was Lyle R. Wheeler – Gone with the Wind
Best Film Editing Nominated Gene Havlick, Al Clark
Winner was Hal C. Kern, James E. Newcom – Gone with the Wind
Best Music, Scoring Nominated Dimitri Tiomkin
Winner was Herbert Stothart – The Wizard of Oz
Best Sound Recording Nominated John P. Livadary
Winner was Bernard B. Brown – When Tomorrow Comes

Other honors

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American Film Institute recognition

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Further information: American Film Institute

Remakes

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Sandra Warner and Fess Parker in the 1962 TV series

Radio adaptation

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  • The film was adapted for radio in Australia in 1941, with Grant Taylor in the title role.[35]
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References

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Informational notes

  1. ^ Lewis Foster later testified during a lawsuit that he had written the story specifically with Gary Cooper in mind.[4]

Citations

  1. ^ a b c Mr. Smith Goes to Washington at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
  2. ^ McNamer, Deidre (January 7, 2007). "They Came From Montana". The New York Times.
  3. ^ "Box Office Information for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington". The Numbers. Retrieved: April 12, 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) - Notes". AFI. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  5. ^ "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington By Robert Sklar "The A List: The National Society of Film Critics' 100 Essential Films," 2002" (PDF). www.loc.gov.
  6. ^ "Mr Smith and the New Deal: pro or con? (Michael P. Rogin and Kathleen Moran, "Mr. Capra Goes to Washington," Representations 84, In Memory of Michael Rogin (Autumn, 2003), pp. 213-248 [219-20])". University of Missouri–St. Louis.
  7. ^ Brenner, Paul. "Overview". Allmovie. Retrieved: June 26, 2009.
  8. ^ Nugent, Frank (October 20, 1939) "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)". The New York Times. Retrieved: June 26, 2009.
  9. ^ "ENTERTAINMENT: Film Registry Picks First 25 Movies". Los Angeles Times. Washington, D.C. September 19, 1989. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  10. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  11. ^ Sennett 1989, p. 173.
  12. ^ a b Tatara, Paul. "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved June 26, 2009.
  13. ^ "Overview". TCM. Retrieved June 26, 2009.
  14. ^ Rosales 2003, pp. 102, 117, 124.
  15. ^ Sennett 1989, p. 175.
  16. ^ "Trivia". TCM. Retrieved June 26, 2009.
  17. ^ Capra 1971, pp. 254–266.
  18. ^ "Film Friday: «Mr. Smith Goes to Washington» (1939)". back-to-golden-days.blogspot.com. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  19. ^ McBride 1992, pp. 419–420.
  20. ^ a b Capra 1971, p. 287.
  21. ^ Capra 1971, p. 289.
  22. ^ Capra 1971, p. 292.
  23. ^ "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)". ReelClassics.com. Retrieved June 26, 2009.
  24. ^ Capra 1971, p. 286.
  25. ^ Miles, Adam and Devine, Tom (2007) "Washington Whistleblower Week Starts Monday". Archived July 2, 2007, at the Wayback Machine whistleblower.org. Retrieved: January 10, 2010.
  26. ^ Blaylock, Dylan (May 2007). "C-SPAN Highlights GAP Event in 'Podcast of the Week'". whistleblower.typepad.com. Retrieved: January 10, 2010.
  27. ^ Beito, David T. (2023). The New Deal's War on the Bill of Rights: The Untold Story of FDR's Concentration Camps, Censorship, and Mass Surveillance (First ed.). Oakland: Independent Institute. pp. 86–87. ISBN 978-1598133561.
  28. ^ Eder, Bruce. "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) - Frank Capra - Review". allmovie.com. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  29. ^ Eyman, Scott (1993). Ernst Lubitsch: Laughter in Paradise. JHU Press. ISBN 0-8018-6558-1. Ninotchka's financial returns were less than those of the year's biggest hit, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, which made $3.5 million, but considerably more than other hits like The Old Maid ($1.4 million), Only Angels Have Wings ($1.1 million), or The Rains Came ($1.65 million).
  30. ^ "The 12th Academy Awards (1940) Nominees and Winners." oscars.org. Retrieved: October 16, 2011.
  31. ^ Brenner, Paul. "Awards". AllMovie. Retrieved June 26, 2009.
  32. ^ "Billy Jack Goes to Washington". Variety. December 31, 1977. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  33. ^ Arnold, Gary (May 12, 1977). "Billy Jack: Running His Act Into The Ground". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  34. ^ Howe, Desson (December 4, 1992). "'The Distinguished Gentleman' (R)". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  35. ^ "Jonathan Listens to Plays: Mild Kick Against Film Adaptations", Wireless Weekly, 36 (32 (August 9, 1941)), Sydney: Wireless Press, nla.obj-721568095, retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Trove
  36. ^ "The Jack Benny Show". OTR.Network (Old Time Radio). October 23, 2008. Archived from the original on August 11, 2014.
  37. ^ Hurwitt, Robert (July 6, 2002). "S.F. Mime Troupe goes to 'Obscuristan' / The company's new summer show takes a crack at political absurdities post-Sept. 11". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  38. ^ Highway to Heaven - Season 3, Episode 11: Jonathan Smith Goes to Washington, August 29, 2016, archived from the original on December 11, 2021, retrieved June 11, 2021

Bibliography

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